Flawed by Cecelia Ahern
This is Cecelia Ahern's first YA novel so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It took the first 50 pages or so, but Flawed ended up winning me over. The writing is solid, the premise interesting, and despite some issues I had it's impossible not to root for Celestine.
The dystopian world of Flawed
Just the promise of a dystopian future tends to be something I'm likely to pick up. Dystopia scares me, excites me, and makes me feel strongly for the characters. What's there not to like?The world-building in Flawed is interesting. People who are found morally lacking can be put on trial and branded with an F on their temple, tongue, chest, hand, or foot. This is strictly outside the legal system but people abide to it as if it's the law. I've heard some opinions on the premise being shaky and that it's difficult to imagine that we'd start branding people as Flawed... But I'm convinced that humanity is insanity and so anything could happen.
The characters - especially Celestine
I think the problem I had with this was the way the world was introduced - by the protagonist, Celestine. It didn't pull me in because mostly the beginning focuses on Celestine's thoughts: we're stuck inside her head and her world views which are obviously those of a 17-year-old who has been raised in this culture. I think it's entirely possible we're supposed to dislike her a bit. You know, the way you're supposed to dislike Jane Austen's Emma just a little, so you can really appreciate how she changes and learns over the course of the story? I think that's how this played out for me.
I also think that I'm just too different from Celestine, so it was difficult to step in her shoes, even though I felt so much sympathy for her. She's logical, thinks of things on very black-and-white terms, she's the perfect daughter. By branding her Flawed, we are shown a society where one person can be found morally lacking because of an act of compassion, leading to the rest of the people around her seeming uncaring and unfeeling. It's quite horrifying, really.
The minor characters too had the tendency to surprise me - by having personality and by changing over the course of the story because we learned more about them. There were a few that I really liked - especially Carrick who speaks two sentences in the duration of the book (but then I like him because he's mysterious). The main antagonist here isn't quite as interesting as I hoped, but he is scary.
I also think that I'm just too different from Celestine, so it was difficult to step in her shoes, even though I felt so much sympathy for her. She's logical, thinks of things on very black-and-white terms, she's the perfect daughter. By branding her Flawed, we are shown a society where one person can be found morally lacking because of an act of compassion, leading to the rest of the people around her seeming uncaring and unfeeling. It's quite horrifying, really.
The minor characters too had the tendency to surprise me - by having personality and by changing over the course of the story because we learned more about them. There were a few that I really liked - especially Carrick who speaks two sentences in the duration of the book (but then I like him because he's mysterious). The main antagonist here isn't quite as interesting as I hoped, but he is scary.
Themes of family and society
Probably the most intriguing aspect of the book for me is the effects of the branding and becoming Flawed, not just from an individual perspective, but from that of the wider populace - I hope we'll see more of this in the next book as well. The politics of the entire situation actually interest me, as does the history of the branding. The effects of Celestine being found Flawed obviously has implications and consequences for her family as well, and I enjoyed seeing how that affected their relationships.
What do you think - will you give it a go? Have you read Cecelia Ahern before?
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